The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has been ordered by a Federal High Court in Abuja to respond to a bail plea made by Abba Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police who is being detained by the anti-drug organization over his alleged involvement in a 25 kg cocaine sale.
After being turned over to the NDLEA by the Abuja police due to on-going drug crime allegations, Kyari, a former head of the IGP Intelligence Response Team (IRT), filed a lawsuit to get his freedom back.
NDLEA’s attorney, Mike Kassa, told Justice Inyang Ekwo, at the hearing on Tuesday that the organization had not received notice of Mr. Kyari’s pending bail application.
The judge temporarily halted the proceedings so that Cynthia Ikenna, the applicant’s attorney, may provide a copy of the court document to Mr. Kassa.
When the case continued, Joseph Sunday, the director of legal services for the NDLEA, made an appearance and requested a postponement so that his office could react to the troubled Kyari’s bail plea.
Mr. Ekwo then ruled that “lawyers to parties in the suit to put their house in order” and placed the hearing on the bail motion on hold until February 28.
Last Monday, Mr. Kyari’s attorney, Cynthia Ikenna, asked the judge to grant her client’s request for bail while claiming health-related reasons in an ex-parte application. But before setting the case for hearing yesterday, Mr. Ekwo instructed the attorney to serve the NDLEA with the pending request.
The hearing was put on hold, nevertheless, since the court paperwork was not properly served on the anti-drug agency.
On February 14, 2022, the NDLEA announced that the police officer was wanted for allegedly assisting in drug trafficking and collaborating with a drug cartel. The NDLEA later confirmed that the officer, Kyari, was in its custody.
The former commander of the police intelligence section was charged by the US authorities with internet fraud a few months prior to the NDLEA’s announcement.
Following the pronouncement, the police made the announcement that Mr. Kyari and four other members of the police intelligence response team had been taken into custody. But Mr. Kyari refuted the claim that he was affiliated with a global drug gang in an affidavit supporting the ex-parte plea for release.